What is the shape of the wings of the gray owl. Encyclopedia of the bird owner. Pictured is a gray owl

Appearance. Medium sized owl, somewhat smaller crows(38 cm) (wingspan up to a meter), with a short rounded tail and large black eyes. There are two color forms: gray (most) and red (less common). On the chest there are longitudinal black streaks crossed out by thin transverse strokes. There are usually white spots on the shoulders.
The voice of the female is a long rolling bass trill, reminiscent of a distant train whistle from a distance, the male's voice is a high “kuwitt”. The calling cry is a loud drawn-out “hoo-hoo-hoo” and a shrill “ki-wee” or “q-vinh”.
Habitat. It lives in mixed and broad-leaved forests, old parks, sometimes in cities.
Food. It feeds on mouse-like rodents, small birds, beetles and other insects. Hunts only at night.
Nesting places. Breeds in deciduous, mixed, rarely coniferous forests, as well as among woody vegetation in cultivated landscapes.
Nest location. It nests mainly in hollows at a height of 0.5-10 m from the ground. Often occupies the nests of crows, magpies, ravens, goshawks. Sometimes it even settles in human buildings, for example, in attics.
Nest building material. The litter in the hollow is poor - rot, wool, feathers, etc.
Masonry features. Clutch of 2-6 or more eggs, white, without a pattern, slightly shiny, rounded. Egg sizes: (45-50) x (35-41) mm.
Nesting times. The common owl is a sedentary bird, making irregular migrations in winter. It starts breeding early: mating begins in February. Egg laying occurs in the second half of March - early April. The female incubates for 30 days. Chicks appear in late April - early May and remain in the nest for 30-35 days. The parents feed the hatched chicks for quite a long time, until the end of July. In August, the broods break up.
Spreading. Distributed in forests throughout the European part of Russia, in the Trans-Urals, in the Caucasus.
Wintering. Sedentary or nomadic bird. In winter, it often migrates from forests to the vicinity of settlements.

Description of Buturlin. The tawny owl is one of the most common owls in our European part of the country. This owl is an interesting example bicolor(dichromatic) color: some of the owls are gray, some are red. The correlation of the number of red and gray individuals in different areas is not the same. In England, all tawny owls are red, in Siberia, beyond the Urals, and in Central Asia, only gray owls are found. In the intermediate space, the number of red birds gradually decreases in the direction from west to east. In the western strip of Russia, red birds make up approximately half of the total number of owls, while in the central and eastern, in the Volga region, only one quarter. In the direction to the south, in the Caucasus, the number of tawny owls begins to increase again: in the North Caucasus there are one quarter of them, in the Transcaucasus - half. In addition to the tawny and gray owls, there are also dark coffee-brown owls in the Caucasus, which were previously taken for a special species.
The weight European tawny owl 500-600 grams (thin birds come across - less than 450 grams). The wingspan is 90-100 cm. Males, as usual with owls, are smaller than females.
Coloring gray owls is as follows: the general tone of the top is light gray; whitish small streaks and brown trunk stripes and spots are scattered over it; on the underside, along a whitish background, wide brown longitudinal stripes and irregular brownish transverse streaks. In red birds, the gray color is replaced by red or red-brown. Juveniles are white in downy plumage, grayish in transition plumage, with narrow brown transverse stripes on the underside.
Despite the fact that the tawny owl seems rather heavily built and leads the night Lifestyle, it is a dexterous and agile bird. Even during the day, when she prefers to sit in a quiet place on a tree, she vividly reacts to any imaginary or real danger. First, the owl presses her feathers and, as it were, hides, becoming narrow and as little noticeable as possible, and then removed by silent and smooth flight and disappears.
The mobility and activity of this owl at night proves its way of feeding: its favorite food is small animals, the most mobile of which cannot escape its claws. According to studies of pellets and stomachs of tawny owls, food they are 80 percent small rodents, 7 percent small birds; other types of food - beetles and other large insects and carrion - account for 3 percent. Since the tawny owl often settles near the fields, flies out to hunt the threshing floor and crops, it must be considered a very useful bird.
Favorite habitats owls - mixed forests, large parks and gardens. It is especially willing to keep near the edges and clearings, which are convenient for searching for and catching prey. Here, after sunset, she flies at a low altitude, vigilantly peering and listening to the slightest rustle on the ground. In flight, it differs from other owls in having short round wings and in that it does not have the habit of “shaking” in the air, stopping over its prey.
Voice The tawny owl is quite varied and not very pleasant. It is transmitted as “hoo-ho, u-au, u-au, ket-vit ...” At the nest, you can hear a click of the beak or a short “kvek ...” The owl starts nesting early, on various dates in April, depending on the area.
Nest located in the hollows of large oaks, lindens or sedges. If there are no suitable hollows, then the owl occupies the old nest of another bird, sometimes even settles in old buildings under the roof or in the attic. There is a known case when the nest of an owl was found in a woodpile, between firewood. Actually, she does not arrange any nest and lays her eggs right in the place that she has chosen, without any litter, except for the feathers of an incubating bird that have accidentally fallen out. Such large fluctuations in the number of eggs in a clutch depending on the “yield” of rodents, which are found in northern owls, are not known in the common owl.
incubation lasts, like a long-eared owl, twenty-seven - twenty-eight days.
Chick pecked blind and with closed ears. It weighs only 25-28 grams. After a week, his eyes open; He hears already on the second day of life. After ten or twelve days, the chick stands on its feet, in the third week it becomes very mobile. A month later, the young owl flies out of the nest, although it stays with its parents until the end of summer. In autumn, the broods break up, and the owls meet alone.
Gray Owl is very energetic protects young and nest against all attacks, much bolder than larger owls. In this respect, it is similar to the Ural Owl. When attacked, it rushes to a person and a dog on the head. In essence, an owl cannot seriously harm a person, or a dog, or a fox, or a wolf, but all animals are afraid for their eyes, and an attack on the head can force them to retreat.
Common our tawny owl is very widespread - from Leningrad, the Gorky region and the Kirov region to the south throughout the country, where there are forests. To the east, it reaches Ishim and the western Tien Shan, to the south - to the Himalayas, Iran, the Caucasus, and Asia Minor. Everywhere we have an owl - a settled bird.

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Species name:	Tawny Owl
Latin name:	Strix aluco (Linnaeus, 1758)
English title:	Tawny Owl, Eurasian Wood-owl
French title:	Hulotte chat-huant, Chouette hulotte
German name:	Waldkauz
Russian synonyms:	owl
Squad:
Family:
Genus:
Status:	Sedentary nesting bird. Young people make migrations.

General characteristics and field signs

Of the owls found in Vost. Europe and North. Asia is the smallest. The wings are short and wide, the tail is hardly noticeable, the physique is dense.

The gray owl is distinguished by comparative large-headedness. Its facial disc is rounded and occupies almost the entire frontal part of the head, but it is relatively poorly developed and less noticeable than in other owls. Its coloration weakly contrasts with the rest of the plumage, generally faded, gray. The eyes are relatively large and dark.

The gray owl also differs from other owls of our fauna: from the bearded one - in significantly smaller sizes and, at the same time, larger dark eyes; from long-tailed - almost not protruding beyond the folded wings short tail, with a less striped pattern on a usually darker, brown-gray or brown-reddish general background.

The flight of the Tawny Owl is light and maneuverable. The bird, as it were, effortlessly silently "baths" in the air - it will suddenly soar up, then go down, then to the side, confidently slipping between the branches. For a short rest at night, these owls often perch on shrunken thick horizontal branches in the crowns of old trees, and in the anthropogenic landscape - on telegraph poles, roof ridges, pipes, i.e. more or less high and open. The tawny owl usually spends the day in summer in the upper third of the crown, on a thick branch near the trunk, secretly; in winter it often spends the day in a hollow or in another shelter.

Active only at night. Keeps in mixed forests, both on the plain and in the mountains; often settles in old parks, in groves in cemeteries, etc.

Voice. Since the Tawny Owl is not rare in the anthropogenic landscape, its voice has long been familiar to people. He is the undoubted decoration of the night. Here is what M. A. Menzbir (1895) wrote about this: “... the cry (of the gray owl) is so expressive that sometimes it is already possible to determine from it what the owl is doing. Here she just flew out of her shelter, which she lets know with a somewhat timid cry. Here the cry becomes lively and loud, the owl, as it were, rejoices in the ensuing darkness; but then something alarmed the bird or there was a quarrel with a neighbor, and the screams express anxiety and displeasure.

Description

Coloring. The appearance of adult gray owls is different. In nature, there are three main variations - "gray", "red" and, less often, "brown" ("black"). There are many transitions between these color forms. A pair may consist of one "gray" and the other "red" or "black" bird. In the European part, individuals with an "intermediate" color make up about 20-25% local population(Dementiev, 1951). Less often than others and in a limited area, mainly in the Caucasus, there are "black" birds, where they were caught no more than 20 times (Boehme, 1950). Both other color forms were also met here. In the northeast of European Russia and in the West. Siberia is inhabited mainly by "gray" birds. In other parts of the range, the populations are mixed in color.

Individuals of the “gray” variation in the final plumage have a general grayish-whitish plumage tone on the dorsal side, with wide brown spots on the trunk and numerous gray streaks. On the shoulder feathers and wing coverts, large white preapical spots are clearly visible, displaced by their larger area to the outer webs. The throat is light, almost white, with indistinct buffy and brown mottles. The chest and belly are whitish, with wide dark brown trunks and an irregular transverse pattern. The plumage of the legs is whitish, with a dark brown speck. Flight feathers and tail feathers are grayish-brown, with a light transverse irregular pattern. The front disc is grey.

In birds of the "red" variation, whitish and grayish colors are replaced by ocher-red (rusty) in varying degrees of saturation, and dark areas are brown with a reddish tint. "Black" individuals are distinguished by saturation and extensive distribution of brown tone.

Males and females have a similar coloration. The iris of their eyes from a distance seems blue-black, but upon closer inspection it turns out to be dark brown, sometimes even with a brownish tint. The edges of the eyelids are reddish-orange. Beak olive-yellow, pale. The nails are dark brown, with off-white bases.

The chicks hatch completely covered with white (sometimes with a faint buffy tinge), thick short down. The paws are also completely pubescent to the base of the claws (only on the back of the tarsus there is a bare strip - quite narrow at the bottom and somewhat expanding towards the “heel”),

The mesoptile is ocher-brownish with a weak transverse pattern and lighter tops of contour downy feathers. The tail and flight feathers are grayish-brown with an irregular, lighter transverse pattern. Already in this outfit, the main color variations are expressed - gray, reddish and brownish. In the mesoptile, the chicks of the Tawny Owl are very similar to the chicks of the Ural Owl. They can still be distinguished from the latter (Scherzinger, 1980) by a slightly lighter color of down, more pronounced transverse striping, comparatively large head, weaker development of the facial disc (which is clearly visible in monthly owlets), as well as a smaller beak and relatively small claws. .

Structure and dimensions

The Tawny Owl is distinguished by a proportional physique, characteristic of all owls, capable of various methods of tracking down prey and comparative polyphagy. It has a relatively large round head and a fairly pronounced rounded facial disc. The eyes of this owl are relatively large (their diameter is 16-17 mm).

High hearing capabilities are reflected in the structural features of the hearing aid. The latter, in addition to everything, is asymmetrical, the auditory canals are enlarged and have wide outlets. The right ear is usually larger than the left. However, the mentioned asymmetry does not include changes in the corresponding bones of the skull.

The feathered toes of the Tawny Owl are armed with relatively small claws. Their length, measured along the chord, is 24-28 mm, while, for example, in the Ural Owl this figure reaches 40 mm, and in the bearded owl it is even 47 mm. True, the radius of curvature of the claws of the Tawny Owl is the largest. All this indicates that its extraction cannot be especially large. Paw - werewolf: when holding the victim, two fingers are directed forward and two back.

The wings are short and wide. The weight load on the wing is relatively small - 0.4 g/cm. Wing formula: IV-V-III-II-I-VI (excluding I, rudimentary flywheel). Flight feathers III to VI have notches on outer webs.

The wingspan of males (n = 5) of the nominative subspecies, i.e. living in the central and eastern regions of Europe - 910-950 mm, females (n = 8) - 940-1050 mm, on average, 940 and 1008 mm, respectively; wing length of males (n = 83) - 268-295 mm, females (n = 66) -277-311 mm, on average 283 and 296 mm; tail length of males - 181-191 mm, females - 182-195 mm, on average 184 and 190 mm; the total length of males (n = 5) is 410–435 mm, females (n = 8) is 435–460 mm, on average 421 and 447 mm. The weight of males (n = 13) is 410-550 g, females (n = 22) - 410-800 g, on average 474 and 583 g (Dementiev, 1951; Mikkola, 1983).

Birds living in the Urals and in the West. Siberia, apparently, are larger. The wing length of their males (n = 4) is 280-300 mm, females (n = 8) - 301-307 mm, on average 291 and 303 mm. Birds from Turkestan have the maximum wing length: - in males (n = 4) - 300-316 mm, in females (n = 5) - 315-332 mm, on average 307 and 323 mm. The smallest gray owls are in the Caucasus. The wing length of their males (n = 17) is 266-296 mm, females (n = 33) - 282-305 mm, on average 276 and 296 mm (Dementiev, 1951).

Moult

The change of outfits proceeds in the same way as with most owls: the first downy outfit - mesoptile - the first annual outfit - the second annual outfit, etc. Signs of changing the downy plumage to the next are clearly visible already in 10-day-old chicks, in which, primarily on the shoulders and chest, darker downy feathers begin to appear, carrying embryonic downs on their tops. By two weeks, the downy feather of the mesoptile is already noticeable everywhere. At this age, the owlet becomes distinctly darker and more striated. On the 20th day of life, the primaries begin to grow intensively in owls. Their webs lengthen by almost 1 cm per day. By the age of one month, the development of the mesoptile is basically completed, and the primary down is still abundant on the head and body.

At the age of 1.5 months, an intense real molt is observed, which lasts about 2-3 months (Veselovska, 1966). As a result, the owls wear the first annual outfit, which outwardly differs little from the final one. This molt does not affect only the largest wing and tail feathers. Subsequently, annually, in May-September, a complete replacement of plumage is observed. The sequence of change of flight feathers is from X to I. Moreover, the restoration of feathers lost in autumn and winter does not occur before the start of the next spring molt (Thiel and Volker, 1967).

Subspecies taxonomy

Variability is manifested in the shades of plumage, less often in the details of the pattern and in size. In the direction from west to east, the number of birds that are predominantly gray in color increases, and the number of rusty-red individuals decreases. The latter are especially numerous in the British Isles. In the Caucasus, three color morphs can be found, including birds that are dark brown in color. There are 11 subspecies, of which in Vost. Europe and North. Asia is inhabited by 4 (Stepanyan, 1975, 2003).

1.Strix aluco aluco

Strix aluco Linnaeus, 1758, Syst. Nat., 10, p. 93, Sweden.

The subspecies is represented by both red and gray color morphs. The color of the first is relatively saturated, dark, the second has a brown tint. The pattern on the upper and lower sides of the body is well developed, white spots are small. In the direction from west to east, a clinal lightening of the color is observed, and the representation of the red morph decreases. The wing length of males is 268-295 mm, females - 277-311 mm, on average, 263 and 296 mm, respectively.

2. Strix aluco siberiae

Strix aluco siberiae Dementiev, 1934, Alauda, ​​5 (1933), p. 339, Tobolsk, Zap. Siberia.

The subspecies is represented only by individuals of the gray color morph. The general coloration is relatively light, the dark pattern is less saturated, and at the same time the light areas of the feathers are more extensive, especially on the underside of the body and shoulders. The wing length of males is 280-300 mm, females - 301-307 mm, on average 291 and 303 mm.

3. Strix aluco wilkonskii

Syrnium wilkonskii Menzbicr, 1896, Bull. Brit. Omith. Club, 6, p.6, Transcaucasia.

The darkest race of the fauna of the former USSR. Represented by all known color morphs. The dark drawing is especially rich and consists of wide and rough strokes. The light main tone is usually poorly visible. Large individual variability in color is characteristic. The wing length of males is 266-296 mm, females - 282-305 mm, on average 276 and 296 mm.

4.Strix aluco haermsi

Syrnium haermsi Zarudny, 1911, Omith. Monatsber., 19, p.34, Chirchik.

Like S. a. siberiae seems to have only a "gray" coloration type. Individual variability is weak. It differs from Western Siberian birds in a slightly more distinct and rich dark pattern and, as a result, in a smaller distribution of white streaks and spots. The transverse pattern on the underside of the body is less wavy than in S. a. wilkonskii. The wing length of males is 300-316 mm, females - 315-332 mm, on average 307 and 323 mm.

Outside the region under consideration, subspecies live: S. a. sylvatica - Zap. Europe, Mediterranean (5); S.a. mauritanica - NW Africa (6); S. a. sanctinicolae - Iraq, W. Iran (7); S.a. biddulpi - Afghanistan, Pakistan, Kashmir (8); S.a. nivicola - Himalayas, Burma, Central. China (9); S.a. yamadae - south. Taiwan (10); S. a. that - North-East. China, Korea (11) (after Dickinson, 2003).

Notes on systematics

Birds from the southern part of European Russia are sometimes considered as the volhyniae race, and birds from eastern Transcaucasia and northwestern Iran as the obscurata race (Howard and Moore, 1984). Apparently, it is more correct to classify them as subspecies of S. a. aluco and S.a. wilkonskii.

Spreading

Nesting area. Forest areas to the North-West. Siberia. Mountain forests of Crimea, Caucasus, South. Kazakhstan and Central Asia (Kopetdag, Kugitang, western Pamir-Alai, Ferghana Range and southwestern Tien Shan). To the north it reaches the Leningrad region, Vologda, Kungur, Tobolsk, from where the border descends to Orenburg and Ilek (Fig. 13).

Figure 13.
a - nesting area, b - insufficiently clarified border of the nesting area. Subspecies: 1 - S. a. aluco, 2 - S. a. siberiae, 3 - S. a. wilkonskii, 4 - S. a. haermsi.

Outside East. Europe and North. Asia - Zap. Europe, mountains North-West. Africa, Asia Minor, north-west. Iran, east Afghanistan, Himalayas, Burma, South. and Vost. China, Korea (Fig. 14).

Figure 14.
a - nesting area. Subspecies: 1 - S. a. aluco, 2 - S. a. siberiae, 3 - S. a. wilkonskii, 4 - S. a. haermsi, 5 - S. a. sylvatica, 6 - S. a. mauritanica, 1 - S. a. sanctinicolae, 8 - S. a. biddulpi, 9 - S. a. nivicola, 10 - S. a. yamadae, 11 - S. a. ma.

Communication with the territory. Once a selected habitat is used by adult birds, it is usually used for many years, possibly for life. Numerous facts are known when these birds bred in the same hollow or old stove chimney and lived here in the winter for 3-4 and up to 10 years in a row (Dementyev, 1951; Fedyushin, Dolbik, 1967; Malchevsky, Pukinsky, 1983) . Although these cases are not confirmed by tagging, cases have been reported in which naturally marked individuals have been observed in the same breeding area in both summer and winter for 14 consecutive years (Wendland, 1972). There are reports that the occupied areas retain their configuration and area from year to year (Southern and Low, 1968). All this testifies to the large initial sedentary nature of breeding individuals.

At the same time, it is indicated that in many regions, in some years, during the autumn-winter period, significant movements of the Tawny Owls can also be observed. So, in the Voronezh region. in the autumn of 1955 (Semago, 1960) there was an “almost real migration” of these owls, when, for example, on November 11-12, “a lot” of birds flew by. Here, the cries of 5-6 individuals could be heard at the same time. Birds flew from the northeast to the southwest. During this period, tawny owls were found everywhere, day-dreaming in pine forests and on oaks with not yet fallen leaves. On November 14, the “flight” unexpectedly ended, and at the same time a sharp cooling set in.

Noticeable autumn movements of the Tawny Owl can be observed on the coast of Lake Peipsi. (Meshkov, Uryadova, 1972) and in many other areas. Birds from the north appear relatively regularly in Moldova (Averin et al., 1971). It can also be pointed out that almost everywhere (for example, in the Moscow region - Ptushenko, Inozemtsev, 1968; in Belarus - Fedyushin, Dolbik, 1967; etc.) in especially snowy winters, these owls concentrate near human habitation, which also, it would seem , indicates their mobility. However, all these observations are sinned by one inaccuracy: it remains unknown whether we are dealing with the movement of birds or whether we are observing the result of the dispersion of young people who settle in the first year of life and at first “wander”. Judging by the data of bird ringing at nesting sites in Latvia (Kasparson, 1966), the dispersion of young tawny owls here does not exceed 180 km, and, as a rule, is much smaller. Similar data were known before (Dementiev, 1951). Ringing of chicks in the border areas of Finland showed (Haartman et al., 1967), km. For such moving objects as birds, these are, of course, negligible values.

Thus, the Tawny Owl, as in young age, and, especially, in adults, it has all the features characteristic of purely sedentary birds with conservative territorial ties.

habitat

In the north of the range, these birds settle mainly in plantations. park type, as well as in old groves preserved at estates and cemeteries. In mountain forests, for example, in the Carpathians (Strautman, 1954), the tawny owl certainly prefers beech forests to conifers growing here on the northern slopes. In forests of the taiga type, it can be found in areas of ripe aspen forests.

Apparently, forests on the plains are preferred to stands in the gorges. On the wooded slopes of the mountains in the Carpathians, it rises to a height of up to 1,600 m (Strautman, 1954), in the Hissar Range. - about the same height (Vorobiev, 1968), in the West. Tien Shan - up to 1275 m (Dementiev, 1951), in the Caucasus - up to 2350 m (Bobrinsky, 1916), and in Asia - up to 3000 m (Voous, 1960).

population

Almost everywhere, with the exception of peripheral areas, a common bird. Most numerous in the Center. Europe. Here, for example, in Latvia (Graubits, 1983), and throughout the Baltics, this is the most common species of owls. The number of birds in Estonia is about 500 pairs (Randla, 1976). In Belovezhskaya Pushcha, according to the observations of V.F. Gavrin, in the 1960s. the bird density was 1 pair for every 1200–1400 ha of forested area. In Moldova (Averin et al., 1971), this owl makes up 25% of all owls, yielding in numbers only to the little owl.

In the north of the range, for example, in the Leningrad region. (Malchevsky, Pukinsky, 1983), the Tawny Owl is relatively small in number. AT natural forests here it is practically absent, and only individual couples settle in parks, and no more than 2-3 couples per park. Its number is small in the southeastern part of the range, in particular in the West. Siberia and Turkestan, as well as in the Crimea and the Caucasus.

It seems that the Tawny Owl is intensively exploring more and more new territories. On the one hand, it began to persistently infiltrate cities, on the other hand, it began to move north. So, relatively recently (at the end of the 19th century), the northern border of the distribution of this species in the European part of Russia passed along the Petersburg-Vyatka line (Kholodkovsky, Silantiev, 1901). As early as the beginning of the 20th century, for example, in the South. Karelia and Finland, this owl was considered one of the rare owls. Until 1910 in the southwest. Finland was aware (Putkonen, 1935) of only three cases of finding this bird, and for Karelia at that time it was not known at all. Recently, it has regularly nested in Karelia (Neifeldt, 1970) and Finland (Merikallio, 1958; Mikkola, 1983), although it is far from being found everywhere. In many cases, the colonization of the northern regions is associated with the felling of original forest stands of the taiga type carried out here and their replacement with deciduous forest.

In a number of regions of the country, a clear increase in the number of the Tawny Owl was observed in the first years after the Great Patriotic War, when these birds received additional opportunities for nesting in the destroyed buildings left after the war, in the chimney pipes preserved on fires (Ptushenko, Inozemtsev, 1968; Malchevsky, Pukinsky, 1983). All this indicates that the lack of suitable nesting sites may hinder the resettlement of the Tawny Owl.

reproduction

Daily activity, behavior

The Tawny Owl is one of the few owls that are predominantly nocturnal. So, in the summer in the forest-steppe oak forests of the Belgorod region. she hunts a little more than 6-7 hours a day - and only from 8 pm to 3 am (Novikov, 1959). However, as shown by the study of changes in the daily gas exchange in this species (Segal, 1958), even this owl is able to change its activity and rearrange itself internally. An example is the anomalous activity of the Tawny Owl in northern latitudes, for example, in the Leningrad Region. and even more so in Finland (Gronlund and Mikkola, 1979). Here, during the "white nights", these birds are forced to hunt during the day. The prolongation of activity occurs, as a rule, not due to evening twilight (an earlier departure for hunting), but due to hunting in the morning, despite the rising sun. But as soon as the duration of the night increases to at least 7-8 hours, the tawny owl switches to nocturnal activity.

Usually birds fly out to hunt 15-20 minutes after sunset and disappear for a day with sunrise. Like other owls, the nocturnal activity of the Tawny Owl has two peaks (before and after midnight), although the latter are not as disjunct and defined as, for example, in the Tawny Owl. It often happens that owls hunt all night long.

Food

Both the composition of the prey and the methods of foraging in the Tawny Owl can be different. On dark nights, she successfully hunts mouse-like rodents in the forest from a perch, determining the exact location of the animals by ear from a distance of 10-15 m. At dusk, she often visits open spaces and here, like a shadow, silently sweeps 3-4 m from ground in a search flight. In this case, of course, vision becomes of no small importance in obtaining food.

The Tawny Owl can be seen hunting above the crowns of trees, where its prey is primarily May chafers and other large insects, and even the bats. D. N. Kashkarov (1931) describes cases when tawny owls flew to feed on coastal reeds on moonlit nights, in places of mass roosting of starlings. In the south of the country, this owl does not disregard the places of collective overnight stays of sparrows, even flying into the centers settlements and hunting here by the light of street lamps.

In the Voronezh region observed the tawny owl hunting for aquatic animals - the owl was located on a branch hanging over the water and every time it noticed a luminous trace on the water surface, it flew down and grabbed prey from its surface - water voles, frogs, etc. Amphibians in the south of the range in the diet of gray tawny owls are encountered fairly regularly (Pidoplichko, 1937; Garanin, 1964). Relatively recently (MacDonald, 1976) a method of hunting for earthworms was described: the owl sits down on the ground and begins to look around impatiently until it detects the movement of crawling out; then several hasty jumps follow with wings held high and the victim is grabbed by the beak.

In addition to excellent hearing and vision, the Tawny Owl's hunting success appears to be aided by memory. There are observations that the places of successful hunting are not forgotten by her at least until the next night. It has also been noted that an owl will certainly come to a nest of a passerine bird accidentally discovered during the day in the middle of the night and snatch from it a chick or an incubating female.

The Tawny Owl usually hunts in the immediate vicinity of its nest. The average range of its actions, as a rule, does not exceed 200–400 m, and very rarely, when hunting, it moves away from the nest further than 1 km. Small prey is usually swallowed whole, larger prey is torn apart. In this case, the victim is eaten indiscriminately, with feathers or wool, head and limbs. Undigested remains are regurgitated in the form of pellets, which accumulate in large numbers in resting places and under the nest. Their size is 34-84×17-30×11-28, averaging 55×24×20 mm (Mikkola, 1983).

Despite the potential opportunity to get a variety of animals, judging by the remains of the victims in the pellets, one has to conclude that on the territory of the former USSR, the main food of this owl is mouse-like rodents. The role of other animals in the food of the Tawny Owl increases only with a sharp reduction in the number of mice and voles at the same time. The nature of the diet of this owl can be judged from the following data obtained after the publication of the report by G.P. Dementiev (1951).

According to L. V. Gruzdev and G. N. Likhachev (1960), in the Tula notches in the winters of 1937–1941. in the pellets of the gray owl, in 98% of cases, the remains of mouse-like rodents were found. Birds made up 0.7%. In the same years, in the summer, owls fed mainly on insects (71.7% of the encounters in pellets), then birds (61.7%) and rodents (42.5%).

In the Oksky (Ryazan region), in addition to mouse-like rodents, in the diet of the Tawny Owl, shrews (shrews, shrews), as well as squirrels, spindle lizards, small passerine birds, bordered swimming beetle and fish (ide, perch and pike) were noted in large numbers. Some pellets consisted only of fish remains (Ivanchev et al., 1997).

In Belarus, according to B. T. Dzyamyanchik (1988), who collected and identified about 5 thousand victims of the gray owl, this owl feeds on animals (42% of occurrence), amphibians (26%), insects (25%) and birds (5%). In total, 120 types of victims were identified here. The most common prey in terms of occurrence was the spadefoot, in terms of biomass - the water vole. The largest prey is the rook.

In Moldova, in the central part of Codri, in May-October 1965, tawny owls hunted wood and yellow-throated mice (24.4% and 14.7%), hazel dormouse (6.1%), regiments (3.3%) , small forest birds (16.7%). In addition, in 64.3% of cases, the remains of insects were found in the pellets - May beetles, stag beetles, moon copra, etc. (Anisimov, 1969).

A similar feeding pattern of this owl was found in Voronezh oblast. I. I. Barabash-Nikiforov and L. L. Semago (1963). In addition to rodents, the authors cite cases of desman, a young hare, and from birds they name grosbeak, thrushes, buntings and chaffinch. Birds were hunted by owls and years of low rodent abundance. The same is observed in other parts of the country.

Perhaps the most diverse food spectrum of the Tawny Owl is still in the northern regions of its range. So, in the Leningrad region. and in adjacent territories (Malchevsky, Pukinsky, 1983), in the pellets of this owl among vertebrates, the common frog, gray rat, house mouse, mole, and bats were repeatedly found. Among the birds, in descending order, there were house and field sparrows, black swifts, jackdaws, white wagtails, coot redstarts, etc. Owls and insects are not rare in the diet here.

The tendency of the Tawny Owl to ornithophagy is especially pronounced in a purely anthropogenic landscape - in city squares, gardens and parks. This phenomenon is typical, for example, for many places Zap. Europe (Yalden and Jones, 1972; Wendland, 1972; and others), where sparrows make up a third of the diet of these owls. In Poland, in particular in the city of Poznan (Bogucki, 1967), the proportion of sparrows is even more than 70% of the owl's diet. It was also noted (Mikkola, 1983) that among the tawny owls there may be individuals that specialize in catching birds. In these cases, their share in the owl's diet can be 80% or more. But in the same Zap. In Europe, for example, in Belgium (Delmee et al., 1979), forest populations of the Tawny Owl build their diet on small mammals - mice, voles, and, to some extent, shrews.

Enemies, adverse factors

It has no specialized enemies in nature. Out of 1,000 birds ringed in Finland (Saurola, 1979), no more than 4 individuals died from various predators during the year, 17 from collisions with road and rail transport, 22 individuals from other human-related causes, including 13 smashed against the glass windows or flew into the windows and were caught in the rooms, etc.

The rejuvenation of forests over large areas puts the Tawny Owl in a difficult position. However, the maximum mortality of birds is noted in the years of natural reduction in the number of mouse-like rodents, especially in severe, snowy winters (Fedyushin and Dolbik, 1967; Gavrilenko, 1968; Averin et al., 1971; etc.).

Economic importance, protection

In addition to the protection of the birds themselves, in places suitable for nesting of the Tawny Owl, it is necessary to widely practice hanging artificial nests - hollows. As the experience of foreign naturalists has shown (Mondzelewski, 1968; Mikkola, 1983), this technique allows several times to increase the number of the local population of birds. The sizes of nesting niches in such nests can be as follows: depth up to 50 cm, diameter - about 30 cm. It is more convenient to make a letok in one of the upper corners of the front wall. Its diameter is approximately 12 cm.

AT Russian Federation the gray owl is listed in the Red Books of the Lipetsk, Kirov, Orenburg, Kurgan regions, Tatarstan and Udmurtia.

A member of the owl family is night-bird owl. She has soft fluffy plumage, visually turning her appearance into a very impressive and powerful one, increasing her size, although creatures weigh on average no more than a kilogram and are inferior in size to their relatives, having a length of about half a meter.

The features of the external appearance of birds are quite typical for owls. However, they do not have feather "ears". The beak of birds is high, flattened from the sides; loose plumage has a reddish or grayish tint, strewn with small brown marks.

Moving in the dark owl owl uses a perfect natural acoustic locator, inherited from her prudent nature. These are specially arranged auricles, hidden under the feathers of the front part and covered with skin folds.

It is interesting that the left region of the hearing organs in the owl is always smaller in size than the right one. Such asymmetry is typical for everyone, but in owls it is so pronounced that it even causes deformation of the skull. The iris of the eyes of a nocturnal creature has a brown color.

Owl lifestyle and habitat

The habitat of the described birds is quite wide, includes Europe and Asia, spreading south to the territory of the North. Owls of this kind are also found on the American continent.

Of the varieties of birds in Russia, the bearded, long-tailed and gray owls live. Widespread in the European zone of the country tawny owl- a bird that has the dimensions of an owl of medium size.

Asian, Ural and Siberian owls predominantly have a gray tint of feathers. And redheads are residents, as a rule, of the western and southern parts of the mainland. In the Caucasus, representatives of this species, identified by scientists as a special subspecies, are able to amaze with a brown-coffee color.

Owls spend their lives uniting in pairs that do not break up for the entire time of their existence. When choosing a place to live, these birds of prey prefer areas near glades or edges, as they need space for a successful hunt.

In the photo, a gray owl with a chick

The life of birds proceeds according to the usual owl routine, since night is the time of activity for them. They start preparing for night sorties for the desired prey already at sunset, making low flights above the ground, during which they outline possible victims for themselves to carry out daring attacks.

The convenient arrangement of the wings helps the birds to smoothly approach the target without air shaking, which greatly facilitates their attacks. A characteristic feature of the common owl is its silent nature.

However, with the onset of twilight, if you're lucky, you can hear the roll call of these mysterious winged creatures. Usually, they do not leave their inhabited places, making only occasional minor migrations. However, for such birds there is no established behavioral framework.

In the photo, the common owl

They can roam, settle in dense forest thickets, but also find shelter near human dwellings and buildings. These are mobile and dexterous creatures that are constantly on the alert. Even during the day, when they hide among the branches of trees, birds are always ready for possible dangers. If, according to the bird, something suspicious is observed nearby, it hides, even visually, as if becoming smaller, shrinks in size, becomes motionless, almost merging with the trunk, and then fly away completely silently.

owl – bird who can take care of himself. She defends her nests with unusual fierceness, not even being afraid. It is better for enemies and immensely curious to stay away from the abode of her chicks, as there is a risk of earning deep scars or losing an eye.

At night, she is not so active, and it often happens that she does not sleep during the day. Such birds have powerful claws and make impressive trumpet sounds. These live rare birds in the mountain forests of taiga areas.

Pictured is a gray owl

The species originally discovered in the Urals is owl. differ in rather large sizes (their wing has a length of up to 40 cm), light plumage on the face and black eyes.

Their wings are yellowish white, but slightly darker than the general light gray tone of the main feather. The abdomen is often completely white. owl the long-tailed is awake and hunts at night until the first rays of the sun appear.

It lives in moist mixed forests, but often travels in winter in search of warmer places. Such owls are very smart, easily get used to people and are able to become tame.

In the photo, a long-tailed owl

Small size is considered gray owl. The size of these birds is only about 38 cm. They have dark eyes, a large head that can rotate three-quarters of a circle, and gray plumage.

During the mating season, males howl for a long time, and females answer them with short, muffled moans. Such birds are found in coniferous, deciduous and mixed forests growing in Europe and Central Asia, birds also often inhabit parks and gardens.

The habitat of the tawny owl includes Egypt, Israel and Syria. In these parts, the bird inhabits rocky gorges, palm groves, even deserts. Such birds are distinguished by a pale color, yellowness of the eyes and small size (on average, about 30 cm).

Owl nutrition

It is widely believed that the word "tawny owl" is translated from Old Russian as "an insatiable creature." But although it is a typical night rogue, it is not large enough to be interested in large prey.

When night comes to a dense forest thicket, the birds, sensitively listening to any rustle, glide between the trees, looking for shrews. Often they insidiously attack frivolous victims, after ambushing them first.

And then, with one lightning-fast jerk, they overtake their prey in the place that their impressive hearing suggested to them. Usually the throw of an attacking owl does not exceed six meters in length, although there are enough marks.

Settling not far from agricultural land, such birds bring considerable benefits to people, destroying rodents in the fields. The tawny owl, going hunting, tracking down the places of accumulation of small nocturnal birds, often visits them again to profit.

Often, winged hunters fairly annoy the hunters, leaving them without the skins of sables and other small fur-bearing animals that have fallen into traps and become the prey of feathered robbers as a result. The diet of the tawny owl also includes various small invertebrates, amphibians and reptiles.

Reproduction and lifespan of the owl

Owl nests can be found in the hollows of forest trees, near moss swamps, clearings and edges, often in the attics of abandoned dwellings. It happens that the eggs of such birds are laid in the nests of other birds, for example, goshawks, so do bearded owls and some other varieties of these representatives of the owl family. The time of the onset of the mating season depends on the climatic conditions of the habitat to which certain species of owls belong.

Pictured is the nest of the Great Owl

The Brazilian owl is an inhabitant of the dense wild forests of the New World with a favorable warm climate, therefore it begins to breed in August and ends in October, arranging its nests in hollow trees. Five weeks after birth, the chicks already leave the parental nest, and four months later they lead a completely independent existence.

Spending life in the forests of Europe, species of birds from the genus Tawny Owl, in the period allotted by nature for breeding, fill the deaf thickets with their voices, starting their mating concerts. True, the sounds made by them: the drawn-out hoots of the gentlemen and the short deaf cries of their girlfriends cannot be called particularly melodic.

The period of rearing offspring in the common owl begins quite early. White large eggs, of which there are usually about four pieces, hatch even during frosts, and by the end of April, as a rule, the first chicks have already left the nest of their parents.

In the photo, the nest of the Brazilian owl

Males help their girlfriends in a difficult period of offspring in everything, regularly bringing food to their chosen ones. The chicks of the common owl appear to the world in fluffy white clothes, later, covered with transverse stripes on the abdomen. When they are hungry, the children squeak voicelessly and hoarsely with a request for their parents to feed them.

Already in the first year of life, fast-growing offspring become sexually mature. It is believed, although it is not precisely established, that owls live for about five years. However, there are cases of longevity, when the age of birds lasted about twenty or more years.

But in the wild, such owls often die, becoming victims of accidents and insidious predators. Near human buildings, they die by hitting wires and when colliding with cars. Many species of these birds are considered rare, a striking example of this is the bearded owl. Red Book takes care of their protection.

The common owl lives in Europe, South Asia and Western Siberia. Settles in the hollows of old trees, preferring deciduous and mixed forests. Not bad adapted to live in gardens and parks. But if there are no conditions for a brood of chicks, it will leave the place. She sticks to her chosen territory and does not leave it.

Leads a nocturnal lifestyle, hunting rodents (the main food), and. Attacks medium sized birds.This beautiful motley bird is brown or gray in color. Quite invisible among the trees, it is well camouflaged, thanks to its plumage. The belly is predominantly white with dark specks, while the back, head, wings and tail are brown in color, alternating with light specks.

The plumage is soft and the same, no difference in gender. Its weight is from 370 to 600 grams, body length is up to 40 cm. Females are larger than males. On the large head of the bird are large dark eyes, a strong yellow beak. Vision and hearing are at a good level, which helps to survive in the wild. The legs are covered with feathers up to long and sharp claws, which are strongly curved.

The wings are wide and rounded, their wingspan reaches 1 meter. Its flight is graceful, it silently flies up to a potential victim and grabs it with its sharp claws. It is agile and very mobile. But she is also shy and cautious. During the day, she dozes, but her hearing is on the alert, it will hear and see anyone who wants to approach her, then it will simply fly away.

Their mating season begins quite early, in early March. Males ambiguously “hoot”, calling for females, and they answer them with a short sound. When a pair is formed, the female will soon lay eggs. She will incubate them from the first egg she lays. Usually there are 2-4 white eggs in a clutch. In about a month, charming fluffy white chicks will be born one after another. Mom is inseparable with the brood for several days. The father brings food. They open their mouths greedily, demanding food.

The chick is born deaf, blind, weighing up to 30 grams. On the second day of life, the chicks already hear and see. Parents take great care of their offspring and feed them conscientiously. Children grow up quickly, change fluff to fluff, stand on their paws. Parents zealously protect their chicks from enemies and fearlessly attack uninvited guests. At the age of 30 days, the young are selected from the hollow, but they do not go far from their home. Soon they will learn to fly, but loving parents still feed them and allow them to stay with them until the end of the year. Then the young birds will have to find a place of residence unoccupied in the forest.